How on earth does Cuomo survive this?

Cuomo’s fate ultimately will be decided by the State Legislature. In the Assembly, which is mounting its own investigation into the governor’s conduct, Speaker Carl Heastie has been one of the few Democrats standing between Cuomo and the unemployment line, refusing to go as far as his counterpart in the State Senate in calling on Cuomo to resign. On Tuesday, Heastie released his sharpest statement yet, calling the allegations “gut-wrenching” and saying that the attorney general’s report “would indicate someone who is not fit for office.” After Biden spoke, he tightened the screws further, saying in a new statement that “the Governor has lost the confidence of the Assembly Democratic majority and that he can no longer remain in office.”

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People close to Heastie say that he is feeling pressure from his members to act at last, while people close to the governor believe that he can fight it out in the Assembly chamber, convince enough Democrats and maybe even a few Republicans that he is better than whatever option could come behind him. The longer the Assembly waits — its own investigation is now entering its fifth month — the longer Cuomo can argue that his fate is something that the voters of New York should decide next June in the Democratic primary and then in a November general election.

Cuomo thinks that if he can make it that far, that if he can get out of another tough spot, he can prevail before the voters next year. His staff have monitored poll numbers closely, and until this latest round of news, they showed that he remained popular, especially among older voters. It would be hard for James, after commissioning a report that the governor’s team has derided as political, to use that report as the basis to run against him. The remaining options, de Blasio and possibly State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, don’t have either his name recognition or his fundraising prowess. The governor is unlikely to resign unless he absolutely has to, people close to him say, in part because as a government employee, he could be entitled to have his legal fees covered by the state.

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